Climate change consequences for insect pest management, sustainable agriculture and food security

By 2050, global agricultural production must double to meet increasing food demands due to human population growth. A range of Anthropocene stresses, including invasive species, habitat loss, various forms of pollution, and climate change are having effects on insect pests leading to negative consequences for sustainable agriculture and food security. Climate change directly impacts dispersal, survival, reproduction, and development of insects; but predicting the outcome of these effects is complicated by the fact that insects include both pest species and natural enemy species. The situation is further complicated by potentially strong indirect effects of climate change including plant-mediated phenomena as a consequence of the effects of temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels on resource availability and nutritional quality of crops. This paper synthesizes the often fragmented and narrowly focused literature to consider how aspects of climate change will affect insect pests, their mortality factors, and outcomes for pest management which needs to extend beyond the promotion of integrated pest management to encompass agroecological and holistic approaches for sustainable agriculture, and food security.